Epilogue
Pathfinders After the fall of the Necromancer, many of the Pathfinders returned to Willowdale, where they helped rebuild the town that they had stayed in for so long. After that, many went their separate ways. Jura Once the ashes were cleared and the town built anew, Jura was married to Goshan in a simple yet beautiful ceremony, attended by much of the town, her extended family, the Knights of the Post, and many of the Pathfinders. She then returned to wandering both within and without the wall. Still, she maintained strong connections with Willowdale and spent much of her time there, leading the druid circle and helping Martha with the Boar & Thistle, keeping a scrying eye on the mostly scattered people she had adventured with in the past. Jura's three children grew up alongside Martha's daughter Tamoko and enjoyed visits from "Auntie Noemia" and "Uncle Leão." As her children grew, she wandered deeper into nature, righting imbalances and helping those in need, but she always kept a close watch on her family and friends regardless of where her travels took her. Released from petrification, Zuni adjusted well to the more relaxed pace of life after the destruction of the Necromancer. She laid two clutches of eggs. The first consisted of healthy zuniceratops; the second appeared to have been sired by a silver dragon. When asked for comment, Zuni said "wonk." Kat When the First said his farewells to the Pathfinders on the threshold of the ruined Bone Ziggurat, Kat watched him walk into the jungle. As she looked to his back and to the Pathfinders, she realized where she wanted to be, and silently followed the lich into the wilderness. At first, he told her to leave him and return to the others, until she finally made him see that it was not misguided nicety, nor naivity, nor guilt that drew her to him: she truly wanted to travel with him, and to be with him over all others, excluding Sparkle Pony. Kat and the First wandered for many years, and it was a long time until Kat finally returned to Willowdale. She never stayed long though; the halfling and the lich, two people with no true place in society, walked together until the end of their days. With Kat largely absent and Rinzler often far away, the administration of Castle Kat and the Golden Fields fell to the steward. After many years, it seemed that Kat had left for good and had left no heir to speak of; the steward's family kept the estate and ran it for generations, keeping it as the founding lady intended: a place of comraderie, open to the public for festivals, plays and afternoon visits, with one of the greatest exotic petting zoos in all of Laurasia. Ru Following the restoration of Willowdale, Ru stayed with the few Pathfinders who continued their explorations, milking the last bit of adventure out of the west. When many of the others had begun settling down, the road called to her again, and she set out to find new companions on new horizons. Some months later, she returned to town without fanfare and quietly delivered an underweight but otherwise healthy changeling girl, whom she named Lucia. After a short period of reflection on how both she and her daughter were the product of brief and passionate romances -- because nobody doubted for a second who the father was -- she left Lu to a local family more capable of raising a child than she was, with the stipulation that her daughter be free to live as she choose and choose whom she loved, and that her parentage never be hidden from her. Over the years she would often wonder if abandoning her child was the right decision, but she never regretted abandoning Lucia's father. Ru left Willowdale after that, permanantly. Adventuring within and outside of the Wall, she built a name for herself as a wanderer, trap-breaker, safe-picker and street dancer, doing things only as the whim took her. She eventually found her father, an Alsean elf of little note, and made no attempt to reconnect with him; though she continuted to pursue romances and never tempered her foul tongue, she never loved as truly as she did Rinzler or as passionately as she did Arcade. Growing bored with the simple tricks and traps of mortals, and perhaps influenced by the Twin Gods, Ru devoted herself to thievery of higher and higher stakes, until she ultimately disappeared in the process of attempting to steal her way into godhood. Whether she succeeded or was killed trying is not known. Rinzler With the threat of the Necromancer gone, Rinzler worked to secure the historical artifacts and geographical knowledge that had been discovered over the last year in the Brimir Museum, publish a textbook account of the Pathfinders' expeditions, reinforce diplomatic relations between inner civilization and the peoples of the west and to otherwise install himself as a foremost academic of Laurasia. However, as years past, his work and manner became increasingly frenetic, and in a little more than five years, he set out with a ship and his plane to find Rodinia. Rinzler fell off the map, so to speak, for almost two decades before he returned to Laurasia, looking up the Pathfinders not yet lost to the beyond. The dissatisfaction and unrest he had possessed before had still grown, and even despite this he had decided to permanently halt his aging around his fortieth year; he was not happy, not satisfied, and hungry for a goal, a competetor, and, if nothing else, someone that understood him and his work. To that end, he brought the half-orc once known as the Fifth back to life, returned to him his formula book, and told him to work, create, judge, scorn and otherwise rival him to the best of his not-insignificant ability. In ages hence, tales are told of a pair of harsh, ageless beings of great knowledge and scientific mastery, one half-elf, one half-orc. They scheme and plot and squabble, meddling and foiling the other as often as assisting, using the resources and labour of average people to expand their research so as to outdo the other. Often they are called Ignio and Seco, whose disdain for each other is second only to their disdain for everyone else, though those who care to learn deeper know the names Rinzler and Sector. If someone is very brave, they may suggest that the two are lovers, but anyone who knows that knows better than to say it loudly. Gorgoroth Willowdale's construction complete, Gorgoroth took to the wilds, walking the whole expanse to find people of a free and adventurous nature. Gathering individuals from every race and walk of life, he brought them to the Open Steppe where he founded the town of Gaahl, a place of free will, equality and opportunity. He lived in Gaahl for decades as a strong yet eccentric leader; every year or two, he would lead an expedition out into the wilds for those who wished to taste the thrill of the land. In addition to his activities in Gaahl, he co-founded a series restaurants called "The Kraken Barrel" with a Laurasian businessman; these became known in civilized lands for serving hearty meals at reasonable prices. Though he was brought back from the dead no less than seven times, at least once from an unfortunate base jumping accident, he eventually reached his golden years. One day he left for the wilds, alone, and never returned; generations later, people still say that they can hear his laughter echo through the mountains when it thunders. Alejandra Alejandra, shook to her core at the near loss of her son, took some time to recuperate and bond with her family. She lived in Willowdale for several years to come, watching her two children grow, but she never quite got around to selling her weapons and armour. Her mind would sometimes wander to thoughts of the slave-keeping ice giants, or the tyranny of Char Nassed; eventually, the knowledge of the world's injustices came to be too much, and she took up her gauntlets once more. Alejandra's two children, Noemia and Leão, lived in Willowdale with their parents. Eventually, the two set out on their own, destined for new adventures to rival those of their parents. Many years in the future, a statue of an armoured woman in Avenida stands in eternal vigil. It is said that in times of great peril, the statue cries, and its tears can bless and heal those in need. Erevis Erevis threw all of his efforts into rebuilding the town and establishing Nahasian Insights, which went on to become a school of great prestige and renown. His years were spent teaching and building, bringing restored honour and good name to the magic of Necromancy. Though there were a few scares and a funeral or two during his overlong naps, Erevis lived in Willowdale for a long time before eventually passing on, moving to the Astral Sea where he became an apprentice to Anubis, shepherding lost souls to their final rests. Halstein Halstein, felled in the battle with the Necromancer, chose not to accept resurrection. His spirit was met by a valkyrie, and he joined her in a train car travelling to infinity. As per his final will, his body was interred with no fanfare, deposited in the ice of the Tethys Ice Floes with only a simple marker to note his grave. His passing was marked without sadness, but rather drinks and the telling of his tale to as many people as would listen. The Father of All Swords, when asked, chose to be buried with Halstein, as he believed that any person who had the guts to go poking around in Halstein's grave deserved to be the next bearer, and so he waits in the ice for the next chapter of his story to begin. Dr. Haiduc Dr. Haiduc made a fortune in Willowdale with his many businesses, and his economic empire grew through Laurasia, true to the Haiduc name. One day there was a terrible explosion in one of his magic labs; no trace of him could be found in the wreckage. When his family was informed of this tragedy, they shrugged: he had just popped out somewhere, they were certain, and he would come back when the mood struck him. Soon afterwards, the citizens of Willowdale erected a statue to Dr. Haiduc on the grounds of the hospital he founded. Enrique Enrique, plagued by crises of conscience, had left Willowdale prior to its destruction by the Dead Nation. He had left without a word, and no one in Willowdale ever heard from him again. It is unclear where his travels took him. With both Enrique and Sheriff Colquhoun gone, Rinzler claimed ownership of the Black Powder Company, signing it over to Barnabus within a few years, and it remained a profitable business: a forerunner in the development of advanced firearms. Roswell Following one final piece of correspondence from Rinzler and the dissolution of the Pathfinders he'd once known, Roswell was forced to come to terms with the fact that his explorative map-making adventures had come to an end. He arranged all his adventuring belongings in his library and turned his back on them for many years—he petitioned his father to arrange for his marriage and dedicated himself to his duties as a second son. Highcombe flourished under his full attention. His eventual wife proved to be a high-strung, suspicious woman who worried at him nearly as incessantly as his brother Vaughn did, and not long after their first child was born, he again took to riding into the wilderness for the comfort of peace and quiet. After a venture that proved nearly a week long and far too much shrieking on his wife's part, he unlocked his library by way of a compromise. His children came to know him as a quiet but loving father who took pleasure in sharing stories with them. D'Artagnan sired only once and Roswell personally raised the foal. He made it so a descendant of D'Artagnan's line would always remain for the master of Highcombe and no one else. It was one of few whimseys he permitted himself, and one that no one saw fit to question. Willowdale The town of Willowdale, devastated after a brutal assault from the Dead Nation, was rebuilt and revitalized not only by its citizens, but also by many of the returning Pathfinders and the peoples they had met and befriended beyond the wall. Over the years it prospered thanks to the revitalized communication with the cities to the west, and the settling of the bountiful lands of the Golden Fields. The Adventurer's Guild persisted long after the original Pathfinders either settled or moved on. New Pathfinders, whether they be wanting to settle the west, fight injustice and tyranny, or just taste the thrill of adventure, were always welcomed into the guild, guided by those with experience and aided by those who shared their goals. While many of the powerful artifacts were claimed by the original Pathfinders, some were left to empower new explorers for years to come. Civilization Beyond the Wall The land beyond the wall, once a mystery and a death sentence, was now explored and known; several of the Pathfinders, working together or alone, managed to map and document nearly everything beyond the wall in the few months following the fall of the Necromancer, spreading the knowledge inwards to civilization. The people of Castle Kat and Willowdale worked together to settle the Golden Fields, expanding the village into the bountiful land beyond the wall, making peace with the kobolds who live there. With the work of Gorgoroth and his followers, the town of Gaahl was constructed, becoming a bastion of trade and freedom, settling the plains of the Open Steppe. The Great Cedar Forest, the home of the Firewalker Tribe, suffered a great fire at the hands of its inhabitants, but recovered and flourished along with the tribe, who became a solid nation unto themselves. The dwarves of the mountains, the Underdark and civilization all reunited, becoming more open with not only each other, but also the world at large. Similarly, the orcs of the Vale prospered, initially supported by the help of the Pathfinders but quickly coming into their own, becoming a proud nation, respected by those of other lands. The people of Alsea, their isolation ended, believed that their time in Laurasia was over: many of their number gathered into a great ship, not of sea but of sky, and left to explore the stars above. Those that remained opened the doors to their city, and it remained a place of peace and beauty. The World With the threat of the Necromancer gone, his fell aura and hatred that blocked much of the world from itself dissipated. Explorers from both nations, Laurasia and Rodinia, began to appear on each others' shores, eager to find what might exist in these strange lands that have been isolated from "civilization" for so long. The two countries, once learning that both still had people of order and progress, began to communicate politically again, and with the vague ancestral memory of a devestating war long past, forged new ties of truce, which eventually blossomed into peace. Category:Epilogue Category:History